Government discusses option of sharing security expenses in airports
Government today deliberated the possibility of sharing of a portion of security expenses in airports by travellers with the Civil Aviation Ministry opposing the move backed by the Home Ministry. A high-level meeting, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, discussed the issue but no decision has been taken on it, sources privy to the deliberations said. The Civil Aviation Ministry, led by Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju and his junior Jayant Sinha, argued in the nearly two-hour long meeting that security in airports is a “sovereign function”. Hence, responsibility falls on the government and all expenses should be borne by it. The Home Ministry, led by Rajnath Singh and his junior Kiren Rijiju, agreed with the Civil Aviation Ministry’s argument but suggested that a portion of the security expenses should be taken care of by the airport operators, which normally pass on such expenses to travellers. “However, no decision has been taken on the issue and further deliberations will take place in near future,” the source said. Dwight Clark Womens Jersey
Groundwork at Navi Mumbai airport site begins
Work on levelling land in the core area of the Navi Mumbai international airport (NMIA) has finally started, almost two decades after a second international airport for Mumbai was proposed. Cidco, which will undertake the cutting of 92-odd metre high Ulwe hill and diversion of the eponymous river, has started some basic work even as the crucial stage II forest clearance is awaited from the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and a parcel of the tender for hill cutting awaits finalisation. Cidco senior PRO Mohan Ninawe told TOI on Wednesday: “Machinery has been deployed on the site and work has started, but the hill cutting will start only after the entire tender is finalised. Also, the forest clearance is expected any time soon. Raigad collector Sheetal Ugale has submitted the papers to the MoEF.” The tender for hill cutting is worth around Rs 2,000 crore. The first two parts of the tender, said to be around Rs 550 crore, was repackaged owing to change in engineering works and design for combining the cutting and diversion of the Ulwe river. This part is currently under tendering process. The other two parts have been finalised. C.J. Uzomah Authentic Jersey
New Delhi’s T1D May Go All IndiGo
In a first-of-its-kind agreement, budget carrier IndiGo, India’s biggest airline by market share, may get Delhi airport’s domestic terminal, better known as Terminal 1D, for its exclusive use. Civil aviation secretary RN Choubey confirmed to HT that talks between GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the consortium that operates the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, and IndiGo were at an “active” stage. “Talks are now at a very active stage between the airport operator and airlines.” Besides IndiGo, T1D is used by low-cost carriers SpiceJet and GoAir for domestic operations. IGI’s T3 handles all international, as well as some local flights. “This discussion has got an operational and a commercial dimension so the airport operator and airlines have to sit together. They are doing so and talking about the details,” said Choubey. The exercise, however, is unlikely to be a smooth one. Both SpiceJet and GoAir have resisted the move to shift out of T1D. “We have opposed the move to shift us out of T1,” said SpiceJet spokesperson Ajay Jasra. Sources said both SpiceJet and GoAir have argued that no single airline should be favoured and, if need be, all three should be moved out. Scott Niedermayer Jersey
Government paving road for Rs 60,000 crore push to infrastructure sector
An influential section of the government is pushing for an additional Rs 50,000-60,000 crore burst of spending to give infrastructure a big mid-year push through the second supplementary demand for grants. Roads, railways and rural electrification will be among the main beneficiaries. This is being discussed at the top levels of the government, a senior official told ET. The money will be needed as a number of departments will be close to exhausting their funds and require more money to meet targets. A final call on the amount will be taken in line with additional resources that the government is able to garner. Genuine requirements based on the utilisation record of ministries will also be taken into account. The government is also keen on completing the promised Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and All India Institutes of Medical Science (AIIMS). The finance ministry, which needs to stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP, will be closely involved in taking a final call on the issue. It has begun to look at various options to make room for additional spending. “Genuine fund requirements would be met. Actual utilisation and unspent balances released to various agencies would be taken into account before allocating any additional funds,” a finance ministry official told ET. “Ministries that are sitting on funds and have not been able to spend would have to forego to those that have been able to spend.” Policymakers are of the view that the spending push will help boost growth and also aid timely completion of key government programmes. The finance ministry had on September 26 invited proposals to be considered for the second supplementary demand for grants that will be presented to Parliament in the winter session that’s to start November 16. The funds constraint has resulted in just a marginal increase in the capital spending allocation in the current fiscal to Rs2.47 lakh crore from Rs2.38 lakh crore last year. The government has an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the current year on account of the seventh pay commission award. But it’s confident of generating any additional funds that may be required thanks to the just-concluded black money disclosure scheme, dividend payments from the Reserve Bank of India and asset sales despite revenue from the recent spectrum auction falling short of target. “There will be no cuts,” said the official cited above. “The government is quite comfortable with the additional RBI dividend, tax expected on black money disclosures and is confident that the divestment target would be met.” Highway target The highway, power and railway ministries are looking for more funds to maintain the momentum on road building, rural electrification and railway capital spending. The government is also looking at funds to implement its biodegradable toilet project in addition to setting up the promised IITs, AIIMS, and IIMs. The Nitin Gadkari-led department of road transport and highways spent half of its Rs 55,000-crore allocation by August and needs more money to meet its target of 15,000 km of highways. The railways has got government support worth Rs 45,000 crore, of which 32% was utilised by August. The government is keen that the national transporter completes initiatives such as bio-toilets that are announced every year but left incomplete. The power ministry wants to electrify all villages by May 2017, a year ahead of target, which means it will need more funds. It wants to give soft loans to states to ensure that every household gets a power connection. The rural development ministry will need more funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, having run through its Rs 45,000-crore allocation as it cleared past dues and speeded up payments. Another Rs 10,000 crore is needed for the rest of the year. Malik Jefferson Authentic Jersey
CCEA okays Rs 1,955-cr Bihar-Jharkhand link road project
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of a new link between Sahibganj bypass in Jharkhand to Manihari bypass in Bihar, including a four-lane bridge on river Ganga, stated a release. The cost is estimated to be Rs 1,954.77 crore, including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. Total length of the road to be developed is approximately 22 km. This work will be done under the National Highways (Others) on hybrid annuity mode. The concession period of the project is 19 years, including a construction period of four years. The new link road will be approximately 16-km long. This stretch also includes a four-lane bridge on Ganga river. The project will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in Bihar and Jharkhand and also in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying in the area in these States. The development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region in the State. It would also increase the employment potential for local labourers for project activities. It has been estimated that a total number of 4,076 mandays are required for the construction of one kilometre of highway. As such, employment potential of 89,000 (approx.) mandays will be generated locally during the construction period of this stretch, it added. Seth Roberts Womens Jersey
Lack of reforms created huge NPAs in infra, power sectors: Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday blamed the successive governments’ inability to bring in reforms in the infrastructure and power sectors for the rising non-performing assets in the core segments. He said there are a number of sectors which have been impacted by the global slowdown, but some of these were hit more because of the absence of reforms. “There are at least two sectors – infrastructure and power- where we can’t blame external factors. Our own inability to bring in reforms adequately in these sectors, I think, caused the difficulty (in banks books),” Jaitley told the BRICS Economic Forum in Aguada. Elaborating further, the Union Minister said that in the infrastructure sector the key problem is the inability to adequately and quickly settle the disputes. “We allowed them to pester for an indefinitely long period and now we have taken a number of steps, including amending laws, setting up faster courts, among others. I do hope we are able to get out of it,” the minister said. While accepting that absence of reforms in state discom led to a stress in the power sector, Jaitley said, “I think the only silver lining is that the causes of the stress (in power sector) have been analysed quickly and correctly, and now we are addressing those problems.” He said bringing reforms in the country has become more easier now than it was some years back. “I think there is a lot of maturity, which has come into the country’s political system and this is noticed from the fact that reforming in India today is no longer as challenging as it used to be say 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. It can be noted that most of the over Rs 8.5 trillion of dud loans of banks, a large chunk are their exposure to infra and power sectors. He noted that even at the state level, there is an interest to bring in reforms to attract investment and to improve economic activities. Jaitley, however, said some of the challenges the country is facing today are due to high population and resource mobilisation. On the protectionist policies of the developed world, he said if this debate gets replicated in the developing economies or in the emerging markets, it probably would have extremely serious consequences. He said when the domestic economy was opened up, there were concerns that the country might be hit by protectionist policies of the developed nations, but those fears do not exist now. “As of now our economy has matured and we have got out of that (protectionist) debate. I can safely assume that today, in an economy like India, not even ripples of that debate are being felt, which you are otherwise witnessing in the developed countries itself,” he said. On the proposed BRICS Rating agency, Jaitley said the objective of setting up such an agency is to have a professional and independent entity and not to control it by a group of countries. O. J. Howard Jersey
Nuclear Power Sector Stirs in India as Liability Fears Ease
Optimism is building in India’s nuclear power industry as concerns ease that equipment suppliers would face crippling compensation costs in the event of an accident. Companies such as Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. and Mumbai-based Walchandnagar Industries Ltd. are preparing for a pick up in orders, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government took steps to blunt the impact of a 2010 act governing liability for nuclear power mishaps. “The lull seen in this sector is almost over,” Walchandnagar Industries’ Chief Executive Officer G.K. Pillai said in an interview. “We’d be open to making dedicated investments toward enhancing manufacturing capacity in nuclear equipment.” The company plans to revive talks with Russia’s Atomenergomash OJSC to build a joint-venture factory in India’s western state of Gujarat that could supply nuclear power equipment for both Indian and export markets, Pillai said. For optimists, such developments, as well as progress on Westinghouse Electric Co.’s plan for six reactors in India, underscore ebbing liability fears. Pillai said Walchandnagar is open to discussions with Westinghouse Electric and Electricite de France SA for the factory if talks with the Russians fail. Global Protocol The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act seeks to ensure compensation for victims of a nuclear mishap, and is a legacy of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters — the 1984 Union Carbide chemical accident in the central Indian city of Bhopal that killed more than 10,000 people. To address concerns about the implications of the act, India ratified the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage — a global protocol on nuclear liability — in February. The nation has also issued an addendum to clarify the interpretation of the domestic liability law, and started a nuclear insurance pool for operators and suppliers. That’s encouraged New Delhi-based Bharat Heavy, India’s biggest supplier of power plant equipment, to sharpen the focus on its nuclear business. “So far nuclear has seen slow growth, but now it’s set to move at a brisk pace, as most of the concerns have been addressed,” said P.P. Yadav, head of Bharat Heavy’s nuclear business. “As the sector grows, we’ll deploy more of our resources to this business.” Bulk Orders Walchandnagar Industries declined 0.6 percent as of 9:36 a.m. in Mumbai, while Bharat Heavy dropped 0.9 percent. Engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro fell 0.6 percent. The S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.8 percent. Nuclear Power Corp., the monopoly nuclear energy producer, is discussing with the government if it can float bulk orders for domestic projects, Director Rohit Banerjee said. That will give vendors long-term visibility and will help them plan for the future, he said. Challenges remain to scaling up the sector, including keeping costs down so that nuclear-generated electricity is competitive in a market dominated by coal. India’s goal is nuclear power capacity of 63 gigawatts by 2032 from about 5.8 gigawatts now, part of a push to curb fossil-fuel emissions and diversify the nation’s energy mix. The plan includes using domestic pressurized heavy-water reactor technology as well as light-water reactors sourced from overseas. The South Asian nation has approved a number of reactor projects, according to the Department of Atomic Energy. “We built huge capacities for nuclear, but a part of that capacity has remained idle as India’s nuclear program didn’t provide sufficient load to the industry,” said Y.S. Trivedi, senior vice-president at Mumbai-based Larsen & Toubro. “Things are looking up now and a number of orders are in sight.” Ryan Miller Jersey
Discoms fail to curb power loss after two decades of reforms
Even after two decades of power sector reforms, power distribution companies (discoms) of the State have failed miserably to contain the high Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses. The overall AT&C loss of the four discoms – Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu), North Eastern Electricity Supply Company (Nesco), Western Electricity Supply Company (Wesco) and Southern Electricity Supply Company (Southco) in the low transmission (LT) sector in the last fiscal was 57.67 per cent. The average AT&C loss of the four discoms (both in LT and high transmission category) is nearly 39 per cent. The State Government had targeted to bring down the loss to 26 per cent by 2019. One per cent reduction of AT&C loss is expected to contribute `80 crore per annum to the State Government. With an AT&C loss of 52.79 per cent in 2015-16, Cesu was able to reduce the loss by 2.32 per cent from the previous fiscal. However, loss reduction by Nesco was very marginal. The company reduced its loss level by 0.76 per cent from 56.38 per cent in 2014-15 to 55.62 per cent in 2015-16. The LT loss of Wesco was highest among the four discoms. Despite having the advantage of highest number of HT consumers, the utility has utterly failed to bring down the AT&C loss in the LT category. The company’s AT&C loss was 72.69 per cent in the last fiscal as against 72.69 per cent in 2014-15. Having majority of its consumers in the LT category, Southco was able to reduce the AT&C loss by 1.95 per cent from 56.34 per cent in 2014-15 to 54.39 per cent in 2015-16. The discoms failed to bring down the AT&C loss despite infusion of fund from the State Government through various programmes including the ambitious Capex programme. The Capex programme was launched to cut AT&C loss by three per cent each year. Besides, the Government has also sanctioned fund for installation of 550 new 33/11 KV sub-stations in different blocks of the State for strengthening of distribution system, reduction of T&D losses and to ensure supply of quality power to consumers. The project estimated to cost `4,500 crore is still under implementation. Josh Doctson Jersey
Notice served to stop power supply to JBVNL from Oct 16
Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (PVUNL) today issued a notice to Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) threatening to stop power supply from coming Sunday due to non-payment of energy bills by the discom. Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (PVUNL) is a joint venture company of NTPC and Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL). The notice for regulation of power supply to JBVNL has been served due to non-payment of outstanding dues of Rs 44.23 crore beyond 60 days, Vishwanath Chandan Deputy Manager (PR), Eastern Region -1 Headquarters, Patna said in a statement. The cumulative pending amount from April 2016 to September 2016 is approximately Rs 82.44 crore from the date of presentation of bills and non-opening of LC for the requisite amount, he said. This is in line with CERC (Regulation of Power Supply) Regulations, 2010 and as per supplementary PPA signed between Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited and Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited on March 30, 2016, Chandan said. The power regulation would be implemented from October 16, 2016, he added.
Lack of reforms created huge NPAs in infrastructure, power sectors: Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday blamed the successive governments’ inability to bring in reforms in the infrastructure and power sectors for the rising non-performing assets in the core segments. He said there are a number of sectors which have been impacted by the global slowdown, but some of these were hit more because of the absence of reforms. “There are at least two sectors – infrastructure and power- where we can’t blame external factors. Our own inability to bring in reforms adequately in these sectors, I think, caused the difficulty (in banks books),” Jaitley told the BRICS Economic Forum here. Elaborating further, the Union Minister said that in the infrastructure sector the key problem is the inability to adequately and quickly settle the disputes. “We allowed them to pester for an indefinitely long period and now we have taken a number of steps, including amending laws, setting up faster courts, among others. I do hope we are able to get out of it,” the minister said. While accepting that absence of reforms in state discom led to a stress in the power sector, Jaitley said, “I think the only silver lining is that the causes of the stress (in power sector) have been analysed quickly and correctly, and now we are addressing those problems.” He said bringing reforms in the country has become more easier now than it was some years back. “I think there is a lot of maturity, which has come into the country’s political system and this is noticed from the fact that reforming in India today is no longer as challenging as it used to be say 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. It can be noted that most of the over Rs 8.5 trillion of dud loans of banks, a large chunk are their exposure to infra and power sectors. He noted that even at the state level, there is an interest to bring in reforms to attract investment and to improve economic activities. Jaitley, however, said some of the challenges the country is facing today are due to high population and resource mobilisation. On the protectionist policies of the developed world, he said if this debate gets replicated in the developing economies or in the emerging markets, it probably would have extremely serious consequences. He said when the domestic economy was opened up, there were concerns that the country might be hit by protectionist policies of the developed nations, but those fears do not exist now. “As of now our economy has matured and we have got out of that (protectionist) debate. I can safely assume that today, in an economy like India, not even ripples of that debate are being felt, which you are otherwise witnessing in the developed countries itself,” he said. On the proposed BRICS Rating agency, Jaitley said the objective of setting up such an agency is to have a professional and independent entity and not to control it by a group of countries. Kwon Alexander Womens Jersey